Malloy noted that the survey, released Sunday, did not include petitioning candidate Joe Visconti.

"How accurate is a poll that doesn't ask about the third candidate?'' the governor said during a press conference in North Branford. "I mean, it's almost as if you're trying to get a poll that's trying to be consistent with an ideological bent ... I'm not saying that that's the case."

In the poll, Foley captures 50 percent of the vote; Malloy received 43 percent.

The survey also found that 2 percent favored a candidate other than Malloy or Foley, and 4 percent were undecided.

The nonpartisan Quinnipiac University poll found the governor's race far closer than the Rasmussen results suggest. A Q poll conducted earlier this month shows Foley and Malloy deadlocked at 43 percent, with Visconti capturing 9 percent.

But an automated survey released by Public Policy Polling on Oct. 8 showed Malloy leading Foley, 43 to 35 percentage points, with Visconti netting 9 percent. PPP often polls for Democratic clients.

Malloy invoked the oft-cited political aphorism that the only poll that counts is the one on Election Day.

The governor portrayed Foley as a desperate candidate who is losing ground with the state's voters.

"His pollsters are telling him what our pollsters are telling us,'' Malloy said. "He's just trying to hang on."

But Foley said he expects to open up a lead in the waning days before the election.

"I'm very confident,'' he said. "We may finish 7 points ahead."

The Rasmussen survey of 980 likely Connecticut voters was conducted from Oct. 14 to 17. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Rasmussen uses automated telephone surveys prepared by Pulse Opinion Research to reach respondents with land lines.

To reach those who have abandoned land lines, Rasmussen relies on an online survey tool "to interview randomly selected participants from a demographically diverse panel,'' the firm states on its website.

After the 2012 election, statistician and writer Nate Silver analyzed the results of major polling firms and found Rasmussen polls showed "a statistical bias toward Republicans."